


A Bunny Called Leaf

by BannedBloodOranges



Series: Before The Rains [2]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Adoption Shelters, Animal friend perk, Antony runs a dog shelter didn't you know?, Dyslexia, Flirting, Fluff and Humor, Gen, M/M, Pitbulls, Pre-War AU, Terrible Nicknames, alternative universe, cuteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:00:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29700912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BannedBloodOranges/pseuds/BannedBloodOranges
Summary: Porter Gage wants to adopt a rabbit.Leaf, equipped with the Animal Friend Perk and common sense, makes it hard for him.
Relationships: Charon (Fallout)/Male Lone Wanderer, Porter Gage/Male Lone Wanderer, Porter Gage/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Before The Rains [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2115000
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	A Bunny Called Leaf

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rabenherz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabenherz/gifts).



> Non profit fun only.
> 
> This bit of fluff inspired by Rabenherz and an in joke about their very silly Lone Wanderer (Leaf belongs to them.) 
> 
> "Reno" is my take on Charon's pre-war name and characterisation, hence why the pairing tag. Vlad is my alternative sole survivor, but Adam is the canonical one, hence why Vlad is under the tag of "Original Male Character."

Rain, the great equaliser.

The flat sweep of wet had drowned the commuters on Main Street. In this commune of drenched rats, Gage could move through the crowds easier, without notice of his cheap jacket and cheaper cigarettes. February the 1st threatened snow and the freezing wind had already frozen the overflow of the gutters into a stinking grey slush. Gage creaked his bloodless fingers in his black gloves and tried, for the final time, to shake out his thin wired umbrella. Like him, it gave up, and he tossed it into the sewers with a hard, rasping laugh.

All this, he mused. Kiwi shoved her poorly, soaked head under his coat, the only dry part of him (not so dry now.) All this for a fucking rabbit.

But Pidge had laid the bait, and Gage was a gambling man.

* * *

The shelter was a sad cluster of bricks, the final sorry structure at the end of a line of warehouses. A field of scrubbed green was tightly packed around the back. As Gage approached, he saw it was thick with dogs gleefully taking their daily exercise despite the weather. They were overseen by the local weirdo, his spiky hair stuck out from under his hood and a cigarette drooped from his morose lip. Upon seeing Gage, he stalked inside the building. Gage groaned. Of course, the local nut was in cahoots with Pidge. Now he was going to have to work double hard.

"What do you think they'll have me do next, Kiwi?" He patted Kiwi's head, who was straining with excitement at the sight of the shelter. (That made one of them.) "Perform an exorcism? Suck off Edward Sallow whilst giving Graham a lap twirl? Do a fucking rain dance?"

The dog lifted her huge, black head toward the dark sky and licked at the air.

"You're right," Gage stroked out her ears. "That last one is stupid."

* * *

Gage wiped his boots on the welcome mat and steered Kiwi inside to the square beige reception room. The Welcome Mat was the only welcome he was gonna get if the cool, blue glare over the red registration folder was anything to go by.

Pidge put down the folder and mechanically turned the pages. He could barely perch his elbows on the tall counter, much to Gage's bemusement, or withhold the fury of a delighted Kiwi knocking him over (Gage had been slow to reclaim the lead.)

"Easy there, you sorry pooch," Gage not so helpfully pulled at the lead. "At least one of us is pleased to see you."

Pidge unstuck his silky hair from Kiwi's incessant tongue.

"I'm always pleased to see Kiwi." Pidge pulled down his t-shirt. His hair was neatly collected back into its ponytail. Five-foot nothing of slim bone and beauty was Leaf Green, the gatekeeper of that elusive rabbit and Gage's latest headache. Deftly nicknamed "Pidge" for short. "You're keeping her well. Her haunches are muscled nicely. You exercise her frequently?"

"The key point," Gage lit a cigarette. "Is who exercises you, Pidge. I take her for a walk, she takes me for a drag. The only woman I've ever loved, besides my Ma."

A tingling of pink threatened Pidge's flawless cheeks and Gage grinned, flashing his golden tooth. Stitch him together - cheap leather, cheap cigarette, cheaper gold plate filling - and you have a bastard.

A bastard who wanted a bunny rabbit.

Kinda killed the threat a bit, now he thought on it.

"So." Gage slapped down the contents of his jacket. A soppy selection of pet keeping magazines, dogeared from reading and bookmarked with old ciggie stubs so Pidge could find all the right places. "I did the reading. Got a hutch big enough and paid out for some decent bunny chow. That rabbit is gonna live like Robert House in his Vegas Penthouse."

Pidge had squeaked at the splat of ink and pictorial across his deck, but he picked through the pages none the less, his agile eyes scanning the blotched mess for all the exact details.

Gage envied that skill. He'd had to plod through the paragraphs, his brain aching with the cramp of words and meaning. He'd managed it, though. Managed hell and high water for that circular ball of fluff he could just fit in his palm, so he could feel the fevered heartbeat against his rough thumb.

Pidge swallowed and slid the magazines back toward Gage.

"You have a cage with the right measurements?"

"Yes."

"He has access to fresh air?"

"We have a sort of balcony."

"Food?"

"What you said."

"Time? Space?"

"Pidge..."

"I know." Pidge nodded solemnly. Jesus kid, what was it with the undertaker act? "I've asked that before."

"So?" Gage leant forward over the desk, drawfing Pidge and the little red pen the kid kept clicking in nervous percussion. "I've done all your assignments, Pidge. Where do I sign?"

"I..." To see the restless shiver of Pidge's hands both delighted and troubled Gage. He was no monster. What did Pidge think he was gonna do, eat the damn thing? "I-I'll get the paperwork."

Paperwork. Pidge's favourite thing, and true to his prediction, the pretty tyrant arrived with a vast stack of paper that seemed to brush the ceiling. Gage's stomach dropped to his shins. Aw, shit.

"I've gotta read all that?"

Pidge's tiny determined head peeked from the side of the stationary tower. His petal lips were turned up in a small, smug smile.

"Yes." He nodded and heaved the paper monster on the desk. "And closely, too."

"Kid..." Gage rubbed his temples. "Kid, I can't read all that."

"Oh?" Pidge crossed his skinny arms. "Why is that?"

"Because Pidge..." Gage stuck his finger on the magazines. "It took me two days to get through two paragraphs of that bullshit."

Pidge's perception stat must have maxed out, for his dewy eyes burst in his skull. Gage chuckled as the kid stumbled over himself, spattering a few of the cursed pages for good measure. From anyone else, this would be annoying. With Pidge, the kid was just too damn cute for his own good. Reno was a lucky man.

"I didn't know."

"Obviously." Gage pulled himself up onto the receptionist stool and helped himself to a lone doughnut in the staff snack bar. Weird they would even have a snack bar if the only staff was Pidge and the fruitcake. "No chance you're gonna give me a free pass, Pidge?"

It was a funny thing to see compassion and hard distrust play softball on Pidge's face, but the kid looked down at the pages, then at Gage, and back again.

"I know," He said, oddly satisfied. Gage's neck prickled uncomfortably. God damn it, Pidge. "I could read it to you."

Jesus Mary and Joseph.

"My saints, Pidge," Gage scratched behind his ears. He thought back to Vlad. Hubby wasn't gonna like it if he outstayed the hours. Adam had laughingly asked if Vlad was jealous of a bunny rabbit. Gage's dry answer was that he wouldn't put it past him. He loved Vlad like radium loved the atom bomb, but god damn if his boy wasn't just as unpredictable. "You gonna make it quick for me?"

"Quick may be the only way you know." Leaf spoke so smoothly that Gage's ears rang with the chasing implication a second late. Goddamn, Pidge. "But we need to be thorough. You do want the bunny, don't you?"

"Hm. Let me think." Eager to take back the stage, Gage rested his elbow on the bar and leant in. Pidge's cheeks perked pink but he remained steady, his forefinger sat comfortably on the first line. "Would I be sittin' here and endurin' this lecture if I didn't?"

Leaf licked his finger and turned the first page.

"No." His lashes trembled as he tried to not look at him. Gage smiled instead of smirked. "I guess not."

* * *

"Don't worry, Pidge." With his calloused thumb, Gage stroked back the slim pink ears. The rabbit wrinkled his tiny nose at him. Pidge was packing up the transport box with fresh litter and a few complimentary cabbage leaves. "I'll take good care of him."

"I am in no doubt." Leaf replied dryly. Kiwi was shuffling the box, keenly interested. Thank god she had the predator instinct of a deflated rugby ball. "Be certain to be prompt with our check-ups."

"Yeah, yeah." Gage laid the prized rabbit in his box. The little bun attached itself to the dandelion leaf and chewed, content. Gage laid the punch holed lid over the top. Thank god the rain had stopped. "Don't worry, Pidge. Any issues and you'll be the first to know."

"Okay." Leaf let go of the box. His lower lip was nibbled raw. "We'll miss him."

"You'll see him around." Gage loosely smacked Leaf's shoulder, almost felling the poor kid. If a strong enough breeze came to town, he could expect to find Pidge drifting along with his namesake. Goddamn Reno. "I'll see you around."

Enjoying Pidge's blushing silence, Gage clicked the latch on Kiwi's lead.

"Come on then, Kiwi." He blew playfully into the holed box. The bunny's pink nose snuffled out in greeting. "And you too, Leaf."

"What?" There came a creaking as Pidge struggled out of the stool. Too high for him, bless. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Oh, not you," Gage said breezily. "The rabbit."

With a wink, he stepped through the door, just near enough to hear Pidge's frustrated laugh lost amongst the deft dribble of the early spring rain.

"Yeah." Gage stuck his hand in the box and felt Leaf nuzzle against the large fold of his palm. Kiwi nosed her new friend, fascinated. "About right, I say."


End file.
